


Breathe

by LavedaVida



Series: Mélange [2]
Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Past Child Abuse, past emotional abuse, talk of abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-31
Updated: 2013-12-31
Packaged: 2018-01-06 19:55:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1110892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LavedaVida/pseuds/LavedaVida
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Courfeyrac drags Marius to an abuse survivor's meeting after a panic attack in the middle of a cafe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Breathe

Marius’ lungs were burning.

The room was spinning, and he gripped the chair beside him for strength. He couldn’t see the bar in front of him anymore, there were people pushing in on him from every side, he couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t see, his knees were giving out. He—

"Marius? Hey, Marius, can you see me? Look toward my voice, come on. Breathe. In-out, just like we practiced, okay? In-out."

Marius sucked the breath back into his body, and slowly the room stopped spinning. Courfeyrac— his roommate— came into focus, standing in front of Marius with worried eyes.

"Hey buddy," said Courf, with a smile. " I’ll get you something, okay? You just sit tight." Marius nodded, dully, and dropped into the chair that he had been using to support himself. "Your usual?" Courf asked, and Marius nodded again.

Moments later, Courfeyrac had returned, and pushed a large hot chocolate over to Marius. “Drink now, talk later, yeah?” he said. Marius didn’t say anything, but picked up the hot chocolate and took a sip.

Finally, after several minutes had passed in silence, Courfeyrac spoke. “Do you want to talk about it?”

"Everything was spinning," Marius said. "And I couldn’t breathe. There were just… too many people."

Courfeyrac nodded. “I get that, dude. But I also— you should come to the meetings. This has been happening more and more frequently. I’m worried about you.”

"I don’t want to— that’s your thing. I don’t want to impose."

"I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to do," Courf said, shaking his head. "But you’re my friend, and you’re important to me, and I don’t want you to be hurting. And I really think they could help you. There are people who come from similar situations. This girl Eponine— she was a child abuse survivor as well. She just started coming last week and—"

"Did you say Eponine?" Marius asked, his head whipping upward.

"Yes?" Courfeyrac said, raising his eyebrows. "Don’t tell me you know her as well?"

"Eponine Therandier?"

"I believe that was her name, yes," Courf replied. "Both you and Cosette know her, then?"

"I— we used to live near each other. She uh. She was one of the only people who I ever told about my— my grandfather, and—"

"She said she’d keep coming back to the meetings. I mean, she only just came last week for the first time, but Cosette asked her to keep coming, and apparently they used to be foster sisters, so… she’ll be there, I think. Come if you want. I’d be happy to take you."

"I guess… when’s the next meeting?"

"Twenty minutes from now, actually," Courfeyrac said. "I was actually on my way, when I saw you. It’s okay if you want to come, Marius. We’d be happy to have you."

Marius nodded. “I don’t want— I don’t want to walk back to the dorm alone, so… I guess I’ll go with you?”

Courfeyrac beamed. “Come on, then. We can introduce you to everyone. Or not. I know you’re not too big on people. We can start small. And you already know Enjolras and Combeferre, so you won’t just know me.”

Marius nodded. He did, of course, know Courfeyrac’s best friends. “Okay,” he said in a small voice, and followed Courf out of the cafe.

~~~

“Courf!” said R, grinning as he spotted the curly haired brunette walking toward him. “Hey, what’s up? Who’s this?”

“R, this is Marius, my roommate—he’s going to possibly start attending the meetings. We’re trying it out tonight. Marius, this is Grantaire, but call him that and he’ll knife you. Kidding. But he’ll glare at you and probably give you some snark for the rest of the evening.”

“Hey,” R said, nodding toward the young man at his friend’s side. Marius slid behind Courfeyrac a little bit, and offered a pained smile to R.

“He’s still a little bit anxious, there was a bit of a slip up in the café earlier,” said Courf, with an easy smile. “Well, shall we go in?”

R nodded, and pushed open the door to the lounge. “Yeah. Eponine’s already here, I think. She and Cosette had coffee earlier. They’re still catching up, y’know? It’s weird to see her being so comfortable around another person. I’ve known her for over two years and she still will barely open up to me. I had to drag her here. But I guess she has that connection with Cosette… it’s good for her, I think.”

They entered the lounge, Marius still walking cautiously behind Courfeyrac. His breath caught, and Courf dropped back at the sound while R walked in and over to the boy Marius recognized as Enjolras.

“She’s beautiful,” Marius breathed. Courf followed where Marius’ eyes had fallen, and saw that he was gazing at Cosette.

“That’s Cosette,” Courfeyrac whispered. “She runs the group. Do you want me to introduce you?”

“Yes? But no. Absolutely not. I can’t—but she’s beautiful and—Courfeyrac she’s coming over here.”

Cosette beamed as she approached. “Hi!” She glanced at Marius, who was still hiding behind Courfeyrac like a child behind his mother (which didn’t work very well, considering the fact that Marius was a good six inches taller than Courf), and smiled at him. “I don’t think we’ve met.”

“Marius, say hello,” said Courf, reaching behind him and gently pushing Marius in front of him. “We calmed you down earlier, remember? This is just a few people. You can do it. Just say hi.”

“Hi,” squeaked out Marius, a deep blush covering his face. “I’m M-Marius.”

Cosette smiled sweetly. “Are you here as an observer and friend to an abuse survivor, or as one yourself? Or both, perhaps?”

“Both,” Marius choked out. Courfeyrac could hear the quickening of his breath, and tugged Marius back toward him, a worried look creasing between his eyebrows.

“Hey,” he whispered. “Marius? Marius, breathe. It’s just a few people, okay? There are maybe a dozen of us, no more than that. You’ve already met a few of them. It’s less half of what who in the coffee shop earlier. And it’s less than any of your classes, and you can go to those on your own, right?”

Marius nodded. Cosette watched them, looking fearful that she may have distressed him. “I’m so sorry if I’ve made you anxious in any way,” she said, biting on her lip.

“He just has some pretty severe social anxiety,” Courf said, with a nervous glance at his roommate. “Can I tell her why, Marius? Or are you not comfortable with that?” Marius nodded his consent, and Courf turned back to Cosette. “His grandfather—well, it was emotional abuse. And he wasn’t really allowed out of the house much—although he does apparently know Eponine, funnily enough—and he still gets very anxious around people.”

Cosette nodded, and held out her hand to Marius. “Can I introduce you to the others?” she asked. She was smiling at him, but not quite in the friendly way that Courfeyrac was used to her smiling at people. They’d be good for each other, he thought, watching as Marius allowed himself to be pulled away by Cosette.

“So he finally allowed you to drag him to the meetings?” Combeferre asked, having sidled up to Courfeyrac, and looking over the rim of his glasses to where Marius and Cosette were making the rounds.

“Yeah. I think he had a pretty rough day, and I wasn’t going to be heading back to the dorm, and he didn’t want to go on his own. So I just brought him with me,” Courfeyrac said, with a shrug. “I didn’t know what else to do. And honestly, I think it’ll be good for him. And look! He’s already smitten with Cosette.”

Combeferre nodded. “The meetings due to start in a few minutes,” he said. “Do you think he’ll hold up with this many people?”

“With Cosette leading him around, I think he could probably stay in this room with a hundred people, just by sheer willpower, based on the way he’s watching her,” said Courf, with a small laugh.

Courfeyrac felt his eyes drawn to where Eponine was still seated on the couch, her eyes following Marius and Cosette around the room, and whispering furiously with R,—who had left Enjolras looking a bit angry and a bit lost, standing in the corner and watching him with fierce eyes. “It seems that our group has gotten a bit tangled up, doesn’t it?” murmured Combeferre, looking between Cosette and Marius, and Enjolras and R—and Joly, Bossuet, and Musichetta, who had burst in the room at just that moment.

“We’re a family. A vaguely… Oedipus-esque family, I guess,” said Courf, with a shrug. “I hope to see Marius integrate himself into it. I think it could really be good for him.”

“So do I,” Combeferre said. “I mean, you’ve been trying to get him to come for weeks. And I don’t know him well, but—well, from what I’ve seen, I think we could be good for him.”

Courf nodded, still watching Marius follow Cosette around. “I hope it works out,” he murmured. “I really do.”

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [Tumblr](http://www.the-strangest-sea.tumblr.com)


End file.
